Good Morning Chicago DSA,

Election day has finally come! Well, sort’ve. We’re still 2 days out from Tuesday, but I only send this email on Sundays, and I wanted to make a big pronouncement, so you’re getting it now. Election day is here, baby!

I’m sure a lot of you are feeling a little relief right now because it’s been a long hard road to this day. Legs are tired from canvassing. Wallets are a little lighter from all the money you’ve generously donated. Voices are shot after talking to literally everyone who will listen about why they need to get out and vote. You’ve done good work and you deserve to feel a little relief at it finally being Election Day.

We can’t know for sure what the results are going to be on Tuesday, but I’m hopeful. I think every one of our endorsed candidates has a great chance at, if not winning with a majority, taking their races to a run off. And that, in no small part, is due to all of you.

But there’s definitely a possibility that things won’t go the way we hope. We’re up against a powerful political machine with a lot of money behind it. And if that’s the case, I just want you all to remember that your hard work wasn’t a waste. Your weariness wasn’t for nothing. The number of Chicagoans who know about our organization and about socialism has grown substantively since we’ve started campaigning. Every person we talked to, every door that was knocked, every phone call, was a win for the socialist movement. And moving forward, every initiative we take on, whether its Lift the Ban, or Medicare For All, those people will now know who we are and what we stand for, which will make winning those battles even easier. And four years from now, we’re going to have that foundation and we’re going to put even more socialists in office.

There are a lot of events coming up this week (to nobody’s surprise). A lot of our endorsed campaigns are holding GOTV events today and tomorrow that aren’t listed below because there are so many, but you can find them here. I’ll see you out there, comrades 🙂

Monday, February 25

Community Councils Working Group Meeting; 6:30 PM – 9 PM; Harold Washington Library; 400 S. State St; 6th Floor South Meeting RoomCommunity Councils Working Group is catalytic space to facilitate a discussion and development of self-governing neighborhood assemblies as a platform for collective democratic empowerment. Our approach involves coalition building within our own communities while using group meetings to share best practices and improve our local organizing strategies.

Communications Committee Meeting; 7 PM – 8:30 PM; CDSA Office; 3411 W. Diversey AveJoin the CDSA Communications Committee for our February meeting! We’ll be discussing social media, agitprop, video, podcast, and our print publications. We’ve got a lot of projects to work on, and if you’ve never been to a CDSA meeting before, the smaller working group meetings are a great way to get involved.
Our meetings are open to members and non-members, and we hope you’ll join us!

Tuesday, February 26

Election Day #GOTV; All Day; Multiple LocationsIn 2019 we have a chance to shift the balance of power in Chicago by mobilizing thousands of working class people to fight for our values and elect socialists to city hall. As socialists, we stand for #Housing4All, #Sanctuary4All, and #Education4All, and we can win these foundations for a just society if we organize to #TaxtheRich.
Join Chicago DSA on February 26, 2019 for our #VoteSocialism Election Day mobilization across 5 wards. Election Day is the single most important day of this campaign. We need everyone to help. Take a few hours, or the whole day if you can. At the polls, at the doors, and on the phone, help us win a #Chicago4All! Sign up for a shift here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/elect-socialists-election-day-mass-mobilization

Chicago Election Results Party; 7 PM – 10 PM; In These Times; 2040 N. Milwaukee AveAfter the polls close, join Chicago DSA & In These Times for Chicago municipal election results! Chicago DSA has endorsed five aldermanic candidates across the city, and the event will also include a discussion of the role of movement organizing in the Chicago elections led by Miles Kampf-Lassin, In These Times Web Editor. We will be streaming the results as they come in so everyone can watch live. Beer will be available, along with free copies of the latest issue of In These Times. Read more here. *Note: In These Times is currently not an accessible location. The event is on the second floor of the building.

Wednesday, February 27

Electoral Working Group Meeting; 7 PM – 9 PM; CDSA Office; 3411 W. Diversey Ave.Electoral’s monthly meeting will include a review of the municipal election, discussion of the runoff and election of new leadership for the group. Members can contact Steve at steve.weishampel@gmail.com with questions.

Thursday, February 28

Should DSA Endorse Bernie?; 7 PM – 9:30 PM; UE Hall; 37 S. Ashland Ave.If Bernie Sanders runs for president, should DSA endorse him? And if DSA does, what should that endorsement look like? At this meeting we will discuss these exact questions as a lead up to a bigger, organization wide debate at the upcoming DSA convention this summer.
Note that no decisions will be made in this meeting, it’s just place for in-person political debate.

Friday, March 1

1st of the Month Direct Action for Rent Control; 9:45 AM – 11 AM; Ohio and Michigan AveIt’s the first of the month–rent (control) is PAST DUE!
Join us on March 1st at the southwest corner of Ohio & Michigan Ave at 9:45 AM! We’ll march to our secret target for this month’s action, where we’ll rally and hold a press conference. We need all hands on deck from CDSA to have a big presence as we demand to #LiftTheBan on rent control. The event will be over around 11 AM. This is part of a series of direct actions for rent control on the 1st of every month. Can’t make it this month? Look for our next action on April 1st. Read about last month’s direct action here.

Saturday, March 2

CDSA General Chapter Meeting; 12:30 PM – 4 PM; Chicago Teachers Union; 1901 W. Carroll AveChicago Democratic Socialists of America (CDSA) is holding its next General Chapter Meeting on Saturday, March 2, 2019 at the Chicago Teachers Union (1901 W Carroll Ave)!Check-in begins at 12:30 PM; please arrive early so that we can start promptly at 1:00 PM and end at 4:00 PM. This meeting is open to all, though only CDSA members are able to vote. Please RSVP by end of day Thursday 2/28/19

Sunday, March 3

2nd Annual Anti-Racism Working Group Chili Cook Off; 2 PM – 6 PM; The Hideout; 1354 W. Wabansia Ave.The 2nd Annual Anti-Racism Working Group Chili Cook Off is here and we welcome all comrades and friends to gather together and have a bowl of chili or eight. We have recruited CDSA’s most lauded chilismiths to battle for prizes, bragging rights, and a modest trophy. Come by and learn about our efforts for police reform, immigrant defense, and more. $10 donation requested at the door.

Other

Chicago will be hosting a regional DSA conference on April 12-14. Pre-registration for the conference has closed. Members who were selected in the lottery to attend will receive information on how to register by Monday, 2/25. Everybody else will be added to a wait list.
We will also need people to host out of town DSA members (we’re expecting 150 people so we need A LOT of people to step up. Please complete this form if you’ve got an extra bed, couch, or air mattress and can host a comrade on April 12-14.

Our Socialist Feminist Working Group has started fundraising for the Chicago Abortion Fund through the annual Abortion Bowl-A-Thon! Last year, the team – the Bowletariat – raised over ten thousand dollars for abortion access. To find out more about the team and why they’re raising money and to then be in such awe that you want to donate money and also maybe join the team, check out the team’s donation profile!

The notes from the January Executive Committee Meeting have been published.

The Strike and Solidarity Committee has set up an SMS system to keep people posted about strike and solidarity actions. People that want to get updates should text SOLIDARITY to 55222

If you aren’t on the CDSA Slack Channel yet, but would like to be, shoot me an email at cdsacomms@gmail.com and I’ll get you set up with it.

Grievance Policy. If you ever feel you are being harassed by another member of DSA, or made to feel uncomfortable by a member, or have a conflict with another member, please reach out to hgo@chicagodsa.org to get in touch with our chapter’s Harassment and Grievance Officers.

As Always:

Fill out this form immediately if you have CDSA organized/sponsored event you want on the calendar. To get the event on this email, it must be submitted by the preceding Friday.

Check out the events page on our website for the most up date list of events.